The Beauty within the Beast
by orkide
Summary: Edward meets the malevolent and secretive vampire Bella, she's everything he fights not to be. Still, after her sudden departure from Forks he can't get her out of his mind. Then something happens to make him question everything he believes in. AU. BxE.
1. Chapter 1

A/n: Twilight and its characters are not mine.

So, here I go again. Wont be able to update as quick as I did my previous story, at least not in the beginning. Throwing this out because I finished it, enjoy while I take a vacation. Hopefully you'll like it and beg for more ;)

This takes place a few months before the original books start.

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**Chapter 1**

There was no forewarning of her presence in the woods, as the wind carried sweet scent of her to infiltrate my nostrils like bolt from the blue. I'd find myself contemplating the way she entered my life many times afterward, an unpredictable chaos sweeping me off my feet, as if caught in the middle of a tornado.

Alice had her vision of a fellow vampire coming to town a few days earlier; her only piece of information was that the female's intentions wouldn't be amicable. We'd been tracking her ever since.

It was both imperative for our family to safeguard the population of our present home of Forks out of humanitarian reasons, and by keeping menacing vampires from slaughtering innocent people we'd be able to maintain our sedentary lifestyle. We choose to prey on animal blood over human; a preference implying a certain loss of strength attained from feasting on the blood of man and additionally holding a constant lack of utter satiety. The selection was grounded in Carlisle's philosophy, preaching that we live in peace with human beings, staying abstinent would redeem us; or on a simpler note - vampires couldn't be evil if they did no evil.

And this vampire, she belonged to another group of our kind. There was no questioning that becoming a vampire was a morph into something fundamentally distinct from human nature. Yes, we kept our former bodies, and to some extent the potential of keeping our personalities – but the constant siren's call from the blood caused most of us to embrace the vampiric nature in the transformation process. Few could withstand the potent pull of the burning hunger, yet we chose to rise above it and fight it.

Somehow she'd managed to elude us completely – until now. It puzzled us why she seemed to refuse to abandon her relentless city border lurking, dawdling like a famished vulture waiting for its prey to take its final breath of life. Could she be so naïve to think we'd give up on protecting it?

I halted instantaneously directing my stride towards the origin of the scent I'd caught, recognizing it immediately as foreign and similar to the few whiffs I'd encountered the previous days before losing her trail once more. Habitually I focused on extending my mind to read hers as I neared my target only to crease my forehead in confusion at the complete radio silence facing me.

Rechecking my family's minds to ascertain I wasn't stripped of my ability, finding their trails of thought within my reach, a clammy grasp of uncertainty accompanied me as I stepped through the clearing and into a meadow. Encountering a vampire one-on-one ordinarily held no worries for me; I was used to having quite the upper hand being granted admission to every conscious brain activity in my opponent. Seeing the creature standing in front of me, clear as day, I brutally came to terms with the unavoidable truth: I could not read her mind.

She stood poised facing me, evidencing her control of the situation by clearly only being found because she wanted me to. A slight pulse of panic jolted inside of me, but outwardly I stayed calm and approached her in a confident stride.

My skin sparkled in unison with hers when touched by the sun's sweet caresses as I closed the gap between us and stood mere feet apart from her. I found myself unable to avert my eyes from her, my heightened visual acuity only emphasizing the perfect being standing in front of me.

She wore a white long-sleeved dress, her feet bare but showing no signs of being victim to the harsh forest ground as one would expect a human being to display. Seeing her standing in front of me rendered no doubt that even though she'd once been human, she was something entirely different now.

Her brilliant auburn hair softly framed her heart-shaped face, falling silkily to rest on her narrow shoulders, the careful wind playing with the strands in a lazy manner. Her supple and full pink lips, at the moment locked in a lopsided condescending smile, had me paralyzed in pure temptation. Lastly I lingered at her eyes, scarlet irises regarding me patronizingly.

She let her previously crossed arms fall to her side in a tedious bravado, letting out a sigh of annoyance while at it. "You're quite the persistent bunch, aren't you?" Her voice was of such a lovely tone and yet at the same time of such sinister quality it nearly caused me to shiver by the perverseness of the pairing.

Her eyebrows furrowed suddenly, her face portraying the type of amazement one would expect if a child was faced with the Easter Bunny, before she threw her head back and let out a chiming laughter of amusement.

"I've never quite believed the ridiculous stories," she blurted between cackles, "I've always refused to believe anyone could be so delusional."

"What?" I asked humorlessly, easily catching the mockery in what she found hilarious. She regained her composure, but kept the demeaning smile as she spoke.

"Your eyes, they reflect your… asceticism. I feel like I'm standing face to face with a unicorn. This is why you and your clan keep hunting me? Are you so deep within your psychosis that you'd kill your own kind to protect humans?" The final word was spoken with such revulsion I grit my teeth in defensiveness.

I kept my external serene mask despite my distaste. "We keep a permanent residence here. Killing people here might draw unfortunate attention to us, we'd appreciate if you'd refrain from doing that," I explained with my voice tranquil, hoping to avoid physical confrontation, her ruby eyes rolling to the back of her head as I spoke.

I tried to read her level of aggression, though clearly hostile, I wasn't convinced she was interested in a fight. Hopefully, I thought, this could be solved with conversation.

My mind kept tabs on my family, mapping their whereabouts to estimate their distance from me. I could reasonably assume Alice had already seen this encounter taking place, but I was too focused on predicting and reading the pristine vampire in front of me when lacking the means to tap into her mind to access the information Alice might hold. The extent of her knowledge would also be limited by the degree of certainty related to this situation, rendering my efforts to obtain clues to how to handle the situation potentially more confusing then beneficial.

As she tapped her finger pensively to her chin I decided to attempt to lower her antagonism by approaching her graciously. I feared she might grow so bored she'd fight me for the hell of it. "My name is Edward Cullen," I worded affably, desisting the stretch of a hand accompanying the introduction not to accentuate human norms.

Her eyes twitched slightly, suspicion visibly causing her to hesitate. What seemed as thousand intervals of silence fell between us, never once of them which she unlocked her cherry orbs glowing of wariness from mine. The hushed moments she offered while staring me down in obvious ambivalence had me on the brim of sanity. It had been a long time since I'd ever wondered what another being would say, the thoughts leading up to the words always preceding the uttering of them.

Her features reading of conflict dissipated suddenly and she cocked her head to her side while observing me in fascination. "You're frustrated with me taking my time?" She asked the question with a playful tone, yet the smile of wickedness shaping her lips still.

Revealing my ability to a vampire palpably callously natured wasn't within my comfort zone, and I knew I had to think fast. I couldn't risk offending her by telling her it was none of her business, but unveiling the truth wasn't an option either.

"I'm confused by your reluctance," I replied offhandedly, she arched an eyebrow in a distrusting reply. "We're nothing but friendly and peaceful, if you're not of any intimidation to our lives we offer no threat to you either," I continued waving my white flag as wide as I could.

She exhaled and crossed her arms over her chest again. "My name is Bella." She stood uneasily after speaking her name, her exquisite name, as if ready to haul herself at me if responded wrongly. I was perplexed; it was almost as if she paralleled unmasking her name as giving a stranger the keys to her house.

"Pretty," I said, instinctively and a bit more tainted with awe then I would prefer. Undoubtedly she was the most magnificent girl I'd ever been forced to hunt down and shun from the village, but at the same time her malevolent nature had me stepping back from her like fire.

She offered a mere insipid blink at my comment reinstating the awkward silence between us.

I felt my family closing up; Emmett would after my estimations reach us first, and in about five minutes. I had to make sure to convert her attitude to a more friendly part of the scale – or that she be on her way before he came to join us. Emmett was not one for deep conversation and benefits of the doubt, and this girl was sure to give him plenty of reasons to make him want to shut her up.

I decided to give no hint of the upcoming members of my family's looming appearance. Not only was I torn between keeping her safe from Emmett, but I discovered a strong need to stay close to her.

To my astonishment she beat me to breaking the frosty atmosphere. "I didn't plan on hunting here anyways," she whispered with such soreness I wanted to grab her and pull her into my arms like an overprotective fool. I mentally reprimanded myself for letting what seemed to be hormonal activity get the best of me; this was a dire situation needing my complete and unaffected attention. I detached myself quickly, stripping myself from any emotion I felt.

"What were you seeking, then?" I casually inquired, relaxing my stance to underline my indifference. I was only showing her how friendly natured we were. Her business was of no interest to me.

Bella's eyes narrowed cautiously at my query, leaving me internally groaning at not thinking my question through. Of course she'd see it as an invasion of her privacy, now I'd put her even more on her toes then before. She ignored my question blatantly while keeping her expression blank.

I realized she was purposely torturing me, having discovered my annoyance of silence earlier she was exploiting my irritation and deliberately fuelling it by staying impassive.

"Why do you do it? Stay off the blood, I mean," she asked suddenly with curiosity. Again she caught me off guard with her show of interest, plummeting from pointing her aggression pendulum from one side to the opposite one in seconds.

"We believe in the sanctity of life," I began explaining, although identifying my own self-righteousness at the same time she did. She snorted denigrating at me with once.

"But you'd kill me if I try to kill them? Am I not alive?" She asked in opposition, but her previous constant anger had faded and been replaced with appeal. Bella's salient intelligence had me mesmerized, only to be further enthralling paired with the furious, yet beguiling, silence of her mind.

I discovered it was a minefield to discuss how we regarded human nature superior to the vampiric one with a creature clearly embracing the latter without insulting her. I could loathe my own blood lusting tendencies, even encourage my family to follow my path and avoid the dark inclinations we carried with us, but I couldn't manifest my revulsion to her – and at the same time keep her from clawing my eyes out.

"I'm unconvinced it's comparable in that way," I finally said after a long pause. "I'm personally convinced we're soulless creatures, and that humans on the other hand are in possession of one."

She arched a taunting eyebrow at me, seeing my display of diplomacy for what it was. "You think we're worth less then they are?" She asked rhetorical, biting her lip distractedly. "But you feed off animals? I'm assuming you regard them as devoid of a soul as well, then?"

Bella's question had me catch my rebuttal in my throat. She took my halted silence as an invitation to carry on. "And why are they superior? They can be just as bad as some of us, they kill and maim, only – they have no blood lust to throw the blame at."

"Look, I'm aware of the layers to this, but our choice to not live off humans is an independent choice of fundamental philosophy. Human beings can choose to not kill and maim others of their kind even though there are a few who do, as well. It's a choice in what believe is right," I defended rapidly, happy to keep to the innocuous discussion instead of receiving hostility when asking her invidious personal questions.

I could sense Emmett slowing down now, and my mind worked in parallel processes to discover why. It seemed Alice had a vision and had rallied them out of our range of discovery to have it unfold. I dared to peek quickly into her mind to study it, managing to see bits of what were Bella and me sitting in our house back home, clearly enjoying ourselves mid conversation.

The vision was of such shock to me it had my attention span narrowed, causing me to lose focus of Bella's voice. Her displeased cough brought me back to reality.

I offered her an apologetic expression, she sneered affronted, but repeated her argument. "I believe there's a reason why human blood makes us stronger, we're meant to feed off of them, like a cat catches a mouse. When we're made, we're made for the hunt and the blood," she said it with such strong sense of conviction I could positively sense the primal essence surge inside of her as she spoke. She paused for dramatic effect, then grinned wickedly before finishing. "It's pure evolution. We're adapted to our prey and survival."

"Well, one can't argue evolution," I attempted to defend my case with a shot of humor. She wasn't amused by my discontinuation of the line of serious reasoning. I scratched my forehead nervously and tried to come up with a real resistance. "I do also believe we can retain the remnants of our past humanity. Our memories fade once we're transformed, but with active reminiscing we can keep them. I think that's true for our humanity as well, but it demands constant work."

Her face fell at this, what seemed to be a pang of torment flashed across her features before milliseconds later masked by the mask of blankness. I wanted to ask her, so badly, to tell me what she was thinking right now, what had caused her anguish just then and to banish her agony. Knowing better then to impose on her clandestine personal life I held my cravings in check.

"I'm not convinced every vampire was a better human," she breathed sadly then, saying it more to herself then to me, averting her eyes from mine as she indulged me. I reined myself from asking further questions, picking up the small pieces that was handed to me voluntarily rather then put the small confidence established in jeopardy.

She gathered herself quickly, sighing deeply again and regaining her cool composure supplemented with her trademark sly smile. "I'm really interested in putting your humanity to a test," she giggled sinisterly. I offered her no sign of possibility, controlling my blood lust was of no big difficulty anymore and temptation was easily withstood.

"If you want to have a place to stay while you carry out your _peaceful _business in Forks you are welcome in our house just outsides the town," I suggested kindly, trying to avoid taking offence by her suspicious glare. "Of course, you'd have to be escorted by one of us; just to be sure you don't…" I ran out of positively charged words alternative to "kill" and let my voice trail off instead.

"Eat people?" She proposed and added a weirdly placed smile to her preposterous recommendation. She took a few seconds considering it seriously, glancing dubiously interchanging between the ground and me before replying. "Ok, but I won't stay long. I'm fascinated by the fact that you've assembled a whole group of retarded vampires to follow your ideology, might as well stop by the circus before I finish my intended affairs."

Introducing this odious creature to my family presented itself as much more of a challenge then I'd initially expected. Knowing them to be kind-hearted and welcoming, their reaction faced with Bella was far from customary. From time to time we'd have visitors of our kind, plenty of them showcasing the traditional burgundy eyes, but never had there been an occurrence where they'd received anyone the way they did Bella.

I led her to the field where Alice had gathered everyone, a large open ground in the middle of the woods where we frequently enjoyed a game of baseball. She hissed behind me anxiously as we approached them, obviously intimidated by their overwhelming numbers.

Six vampires, three blonde, three dark haired, awaited peacefully in the middle for us to come closer. As we drew nearer I sensed her initial tension growing, but to my surprise she stayed next to me, easing closer with one nervous step at a time.

"I'm Carlisle, this is my family," began Carlisle after a few uncomfortable moments of silence between us. I stood on her side, like a guardian, facing the line of my family together with her.

She twitched agitatedly next to me, her eyes flying cagily from one person to the other. And she stayed in complete silence, refusing to offer her name.

"She has some business to attend to in town, she has vowed not to cause any disturbance, and agreed to me accompany her to make sure of it," I summarized to avoid her belligerent behavior if forced to expose her name. If she'd been wary with one stranger vampire made aware of it, six would doubtlessly be a problem.

I took notice of Jasper's troubles shortly after speaking, Alice's edgy eyes on him like a hawk reading every expression of apprehensiveness flashing across his face. Alice's eyes stilled suddenly, the vacant look familiar to me. She was having a vision.

I tapped into her mind to access the vision, but found myself quickly retreating to the safety of my own secluded brain. Dreadful and foul acts exploded in my head like fifty horror movies showing at the same time, all caused by the girl standing next to me.

Alice put her hand to her head and moaned in exasperation, cringing into Jasper's supporting body. "Make it stop," she begged, her eyes shut solid together as if it would keep the sights away.

"What's going on?" Rosalie asked cautiously, conveying glances of suspicion in Bella's direction.

"I can't be here, this is too much," Jasper suddenly admit defeated, his eyes filled with a staggering atrociousness I'd rarely ever witnessed.

He's too affected by her emotional state, I realized, peering over at Bella standing unaffected on my side. She eyed Jasper contemplating, clearly entertained by her effect on him.

Alice mustered up some power and willed herself to stare intensely at me, gripping desperately at Jasper's sleeve. "Look at what her maliciousness and blood thirst is doing to him!" She shouted it hysterically, closing her eyes again to fend off the visions bursting in her head. "You have to leave, now!" She commanded, pointing her finger at Bella.

Bella snorted disrespectfully, baring her teeth in a sign of aggression. I waved a hand to calm her down, frantically searching for a way to defuse this situation.

"We can't stay here anymore," Alice said frenziedly. Jasper needed no more then that, turning instantly and running away in the other direction. Alice turned to watch him escape, sent me a final pleading look and said her final words before joining her lover. "She might be indecisive, but every single scenario in her future holds nothing but unspeakable evil."

With that, she sprinted off and disappeared into the woods. The remaining members of my family eyed Bella mistrustfully; even Esme seemed repelled by the vampire in front of her.

"Edward, maybe this isn't a good idea," Carlisle started carefully, unconsciously positioning himself protectively in front of Esme.

I ran the options through my head, knowing that the reasonable thing to do was to send her off, tell her to stay away forever and hope that the aura of malevolence would never again cross pass with us. But something inside of me craved her presence, I could feel my body yearning to discover that she wasn't lost in her darkness; I wanted to see her true self. And this, absurd and unfounded emotion overruled my logic completely.

"I'll accompany her to town immediately, then she'll be gone," I announced determined. Carlisle and Esme grew agonized in front of me, Rosalie huffed while sending scorning glares at Bella. "It's night-time, there won't be many people to bump into, it's safer to get it over with now."

Emmett stepped forward, speaking firmly. "Let me come with you, if she's… It's safer if we're two."

Bella scoffed openly at him, rolling her red eyes rebelliously.

"Bella and I will leave now, I'll see you later," I replied, dismissing his offer to soothe her. I didn't trust her per say, but my reasoning was utterly overridden and I was convinced I'd seen something good in her earlier in the meadow.

Bella turned and began running towards town without any farewells. "Be careful," Esme whimpered motherly at me while crutching herself on Carlisle. I nodded stiffly to show my resolve, before darting after Bella's disappearing shape.

At first she scurried off in great haste, as if putting ground between her and my family would solve all her problems, though shortly before reaching Forks her stride took on a more leisurely tempo.

She smirked wickedly as I caught fully up with her and matched her pace. "That was quite the show, your clan knows the art of welcoming strangers," she teased, feigning a look of disappointment.

"I've never seen them like that before," I snapped back, tired of her taunting. She took no notice of the harshness in my voice, shrugging it off with a laugh.

Alice's words worried me, but seeing this marvelous girl next to me, I couldn't believe it to be true. My mind told me it wasn't her who would cause the evil, she'd be victim to it, she was innocent and pure. A nagging discomforting feeling in the back of my head told me this wasn't the case; I'd seen the visions of her possible futures when dipping into Alice's head.

But the future could be avoided, if convinced of her humanity and that doing good is the right choice, she might not have to face what Alice saw. I wanted to save her.

I followed her blindly and rather absentmindedly, busying myself with ideas to convert her from the vile path she took. My distractedness rendered me completely unable to predict her sudden halt, causing me to backtrack and catch up with her.

She'd come to a stop in the middle of the schoolyard, her face grim and holding a momentousness in her stance that caused me to halt. I stood on the other side of the ground, eyeing her suspiciously, naively expecting her to at any time smile and join my hand in merry skips on our way to her destination.

The corners of her mouth shaped into a terrifying smile then, and reality struck. Watching her now I could plainly see her fiendish nature, she displayed it blatantly, and I'd been too blinded to see it.

At the same time as she turned to run my phone began ringing in my pocket. I didn't have to check the caller ID to know it would be Alice. While at the same time stalking after Bella I grabbed my phone and answered it.

"Edward, I just had a vision, she made up her mind-" Alice's frantic voice sounded.

"I know, I'm tracking her now," I replied rapidly, seeing her turn a street corner and entering what I knew was Main Street. I shot around the corner as fast as I could, finding myself wide eyed and in the middle of a climactic situation.

My jaw dropped as I watched how Bella ran towards the upcoming lorry truck sailing through town. The driver honked furiously to alarm the girl running directly towards his vehicle; little did he know he was the one who should be afraid.

She jumped gracefully onto the side of the truck and ripped the door open. The stunned driver had managed to slow the truck to a complete stop now and was forced to face the feline creature snickering heinously at him. She reached into the opening, jerked him violently out and ripping the car belt in the process, before jumping to the ground in one fluid movement.

She held him like mother holds her child, hugging his generous body to her petite figure.

"Save him!" I heard a distant yelling through the phone, but I found myself bolted to the ground, a spectator to the macabre events unfolding in front of me.

Bella looked directly at me, ignoring the helpless squirming from the plaid covered trucker locked in her powerful grip, and yet again, her lips curved into a mockery smile of pure evil. She lifted the heavy load above her head as if it carried no weight at all, turned slowly to face away from me and then in one vicious and inhuman move she threw him fiercely into the air.

I regained conscious control over my limps and instinctively hurled myself in the direction she'd tossed him away like garbage. I had to pass her by to get to him, and as I rushed past her she whispered softly into my ear. "Goodbye, Edward."

Her plan of distracting me worked perfectly. While occupied with catching the driver she scurried off to finish her intended business in secret. She made sure of leaving her trail all over the place, darting back and forth across town and never stopping to linger anywhere special, successfully concealing her planned aim.

We never caught up with her after this; she disappeared into the woods and didn't return. Emmett was in particular annoyed with not being able to track her down, cursing her well-developed skill of escape. In silence I reckoned that exact quality in her stemmed from necessity; fleeing was of the essence for someone so private.

The driver passed out while mid-air, his body succumbing to the strain put on it by gravitational forces, and promptly placed back in his seat while still remaining in his unconscious state. I kept close to him until he left town again, watching how he stupidly walked into the police station to claim he'd been hurled out of his truck by a little teenage girl. When he departed with his lorry truck he was mentally convinced he'd fallen asleep in front of the wheel dreaming the entire situation and thanked God in silence for having such luck surviving. He had no idea.

I avoided listening in on my family's minds the following time, although frequently catching lines colored by worry, suspicion and disagreement regarding my handling of the entire Bella-situation.

It was hard not thinking of her, her being seemed etched into my mind, thoughts drifting instinctively to ponder about her whereabouts or to contemplate what in her past could be responsible for her darkness. I shamefully tried to veil the spell she still seemed to hold on me from my family, knowing they'd disapprove greatly. She would stay my secret.

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**Let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Twilight and its characters doesnt belong to me.**

Sorry for the wait, been busy with exams and then vacation. Going to be update queen the remainders of the story, promise! Enjoy!

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**Chapter 2**

BPOV

The golden locket swung back and forth like a pendulum, its chain resting softly on my index finger. Ambivalence gathered like a fist in my stomach as I continued to regard it, its constant fluctuations luring me into silent contemplation.

In the midst of the massive tree-trunks, low humming of the birds and the soft marching of bug's feet I lay on my back across a large mossy boulder swaying the sparkling chain inches above my head.

I stretched my bare feet and rubbed them distantly against the rough stony texture absentmindedly, my eyes trailing the piece of jewelry. Outwardly I merged with the stone, not even bothering to pretend-inflate my chest to mimic breathing. Inwardly, my thoughts raced.

I shook my head in annoyance, shuddering from my own ridiculousness. These inane emotions were like pestilence. Human emotions were beneath me, I repetitively scolded myself. Emotions were easily repressed into nothingness, not worthy of a vampire, driven by the purest feelings of lust and desire, the hunter impersonated.

The cold went deeper then just the touch of my skin, I thought melodramatically and grinned slightly to myself. Of course, this sensation only applied to humans, and few of those I'd encountered over the years had ever been alive long enough to reach out and experience the coolness of my white skin.

Burning flashed in my throat as my mind wandered towards my natural prey. The desire I felt was only a tease, I'd sunk my teeth into a much too willing little girl only hours ago.

Ah, humans, sometimes they bored me with their lack of protest. This realization had forced me to take up the habit of singling out the most life-hungry individuals, just so I'd get somewhat of a thrill when killing them. Slaughtering children in front of their parents had become my preferred meal. Their screams of 'no' my equivalent of narcotics.

I shoved the locket into the tiny pocket on the side of my dress and jumped to my feet, the motion so graceful it would've left no doubt of my seemingly human appearance being only a guise cloaking my beastliness to the casual observer.

Instinctively my head whipped to the east as I detected their presence. A chill went down my spine, survival impulses desperately trying to convince me to sprint away in the opposite direction. I cursed in a whisper, I was a few hours away from my destination now, had I not foolishly stopped to regard the locket I'd be safe now.

Running wasn't an option, they were too many and they'd gotten too close already. I braced myself as I heard their feline footsteps drew closer, my muscles tensing in nervous preparation, my instincts beckoning eagerly for a fight.

At the same time as I caught their individual scents, separating them from each other to reveal their distinct smell, my parallel trail of thought wandered to a couple of deep honey-colored orbs. Recognizing the scent caused my consciousness to focus in surprise.

It wasn't he who stepped towards me, no, not the quirky and naïve vegetarian, far from it. James stalked into the clearing flanked by two companions, one female with fierce eyes and flaming red hair on his left, an olive-skinned male on his right. Reading their presence I could easily point James out as their leader.

James cocked his head and sent me a lopsided smile, he signaled with his hands for his allies to halt before approaching me further. I stood poised, with an expression of nonchalance hurriedly put up as soon as I picked his smell out of the air. I wasn't certain what our past would bring to this encounter, I usually didn't get out of vampire bump-ins without throwing punches and, luckily, had until now rarely ever stumbled upon a clique of more then two individuals.

Meanwhile regarding the situation at hand I caught a resentful glare from the redhead with a stray glance. I quickly peered back at James, masking my growing anxiety.

"Bella," his masculine voice whispered, his lips shaping the letters in my name with such intensity a being with more humanity would have blushed. I was glad he stood with his back to the female, but silently recognized it must be far from coincidental he'd positioned himself the way he had.

"James," I replied shortly, my voice stern.

How to approach this? Survival would depend on successful escape on my part, but if I played my history card with James I could risk setting off the ticking redheaded bomb – I hardly thought he'd end up taking my side in such a fight. If refraining from dipping into our previous relationship he might just kill me for kicks anyways.

James' eyes held mine without hesitation. "This is Victoria and Laurent," he said and even threw in a gesture with his hand to make it complete. But though the voice he spoke with was relaxed and his body motioned indifferently there was no doubt in my mind he'd not forgotten about our companionship.

While nodding in their direction in a greeting manner my thoughts sprinted to elucidate the dilemma I was in. I schooled my features, painfully visible to Victoria and Laurent's intense and scrutinizing stares, opting to promote friendliness as the way to get out of this nuisance.

"Been quite some time now, dear Bella," James said hoarsely, a snarl sounding from behind him. He rolled his eyes in annoyance as Victoria blatantly marked her territory.

"Yes," I began carefully, battling the need to challenge Victoria just in spite. It would only take a flash of my eyes in her direction and she'd take me on, I was sure of it. "I'm headed to see Andrew, actually."

"Andrew?" His eyebrows arched in surprise.

He'd never been one to like the eccentricities of Andrew, I knew this, but he'd always respected his authority. Like everyone who met him seemed nearly compelled to obey. I hoped mentioning him would have some of his reverence rub off onto me, and by the looks of it James had responded to his name.

It was my turn to tilt my head overconfidently. "Yes, you remember him, right?" I mentally scolded myself for not hiding the acidic condescendence in my voice as I said it. This wasn't the time.

Victoria and Laurent stepped uneasily behind him as James bent his head. I jumped back a tad too eagerly into the conversation. "What's your destination?" I inquired casually.

James peered back up at me. "Nowhere in particular," he replied briskly, before softening and grinning playfully, "'where the blood takes us'," he laughed then.

The sentence brought me back many years to our hunting sprees, back when James and I teamed up to inflict mayhem on those who had a pumping heart and called themselves human. We didn't discriminate.

"Where the blood takes us" was a private joke between us, jolting many fond memories into life, but accompanying them came the past that held the reason for our inevitable split.

I had to use all my strength not to shudder as I remembered how we fought and how we'd ended up spending more time contemplating in which ways to off the other then where the blood took us. I'd been forced to track down Andrew to get James off my back, and it had worked perfectly. James had left me alone, and I'd hoped to avoid him for the rest of eternity.

Instead of displaying my repugnance I mirrored his affectionate reaction to our walk down memory lane, but stayed certain to keep the laughter and smile from overstepping friendly limits. Victoria was already brimming on launching herself at me in jealousy, practically fuming behind James' back. I was sure he not only knew of this fact, but that he was purposely encouraging it.

"I come from Forks," I said suddenly, happy to find something to say, "there's a coven of seven vegetarian vampires living there permanently, it was like bizarro-world."

The three vampires looked at me with disgust and confusion, doubtlessly close to how Edward must've experienced when I grasped the origin of his golden eyes.

"That's so wrong in so many ways," James breathed, but I saw a twinkle of interest raised in him. He was one for a challenge, I knew him that well. I hoped mentioning the outsiders in Forks would have him sprinting in their direction to seek them out and find a way to hurt them.

James was more of an emotional hunter then what I was, he would pick up on the bonds between the victims or the mood the person was in and find a way to torture them to reach his ecstasy.

This had never applied to me, yes, I needed their cries, but I needed them to feel as if the hunt mattered, that my intervention into their lives was meaningful. I needed to know that I mattered.

When I let my teeth break their soft skin and as their blood flowed into my mouth, I changed their lives. And for a few minutes I didn't exist, there was only the vampiric beast devouring an innocent soul.

I hunted for this; to find someone who wanted to, someone who had a reason to, stop me. I didn't do it to play with them, to mess them up and there was no gratitude in their misery on my side. James, on the other hand, found pools of delight in the infliction of mischief.

"They seemed to even be three romantically bonded pairs between them as well," I added warily, if I poured on too strong with tempting him he might just see it for what it was and turn his focus back on me.

James' brows arched in surprise, I masked a smile to hide the satisfaction of success from him as I saw how he swallowed the bait fully.

"James," Victoria nagged sourly, obviously impatient and displeased by the benevolent evolution by our conversation. He ignored her and looked back at me.

"We were headed that way anyways, but now I'll make sure to stop by to check in on them," he replied smirking waywardly. I followed suit and grinned evilly back to show I knew exactly what he planned on. "Well, I guess we'll better get going to not miss the party that obviously is Forks," he continued in a tone signalizing finality.

"Give them my best," I said teasingly and James bared his teeth in a wide grin at the double meaning.

"I will," he promised.

James turned around and gestured for the two others to follow him as he began running towards Forks. Victoria halted a split second after the males had disappeared into the woods, glaring angrily at me, even stepping hesitantly towards me as if considering leaping at my throat now that she had the opportunity.

"Try it, bitch," I snapped at her, snarling deeply. Diplomacy was never my strong side. She scowled back at me, but shortly after vanished into the forest.

EPOV

The tediousness that was high school seemed unable to draw my thoughts away from Bella. I'd expected the mundane routines would assist my now losing battle against going mentally intoxicated by her memory. No such luck.

Voices faded into a blur around me, their expressed and their mental ones alike. A faceless crowd surrounding me, their teenage bodies reduced to nothing but the low thumping from their hearts.

I reveled in being able to disappear into silent contemplation. Thinking of her was becoming a drug to me; I was unable to hinder the rumination, embarrassed I had to admit I found exceptional joy in spending time just mulling over the way her hair fell against her shoulders. I felt like an obsessive degenerate.

Home I kept up appearances, played the piano, read books, listened to music and spent time with my family. I smiled when supposed to, firmly chastised myself when my thoughts drifted towards her and avoided letting my craving to lie in bed staring at the ceiling with a goofy smile while my head filled with images of her beauty.

I felt quite successful at these theatrics, certain they had no clue how devastatingly lost I was.

Alice would direct a few fretting glances across the cafeteria table from time to time, which were promptly ignored. It was a simpler task to dominate my mania at home, but when I gingerly stepped out of the car each morning to attend school it was like I crossed a mental border. The home of the Spartans was my Attica, where the unstoppable monster in my mind could binge passionately in the recollection of Bella, turning it off before lunch to mask the intense fixation was difficult.

Fortunately, Alice would soon be distracted by keeping an eye on Jasper's frequent agitated bloodlust. Ever thankful for their self-absorption, Emmett and Rosalie didn't even bother eyeing me twice, never even picking up on the weirdness that had become their 'brother'.

"Edward." Alice's voice broke my sidetracked trail of thought with a stiff tone. She was used to us sharing a special relationship and I had picked up on her hurt feelings lately because of my unfocused mental state.

They were all staring expectantly at me across the white plastic table. Raising an uncertain eyebrow to signal my ignorance, Alice huffed irritated. A fleeting thought flew through her head where she wondered if I was ever going to recover from whatever condition I seemed to suffer from.

"Have you read anything from the new girl?" Emmett obviously repeated, tilting his head to his left.

I scanned the room with my eyes while my mind reached out into the swarm of indiscernible mental voices. When locating the new girl visually I tuned into her mind and found her without any difficulty. I cringed on her behalf as I saw who she had befriended, and involuntarily let Jessica Stanley's perverted thoughts invade my head as I got diverted by her presence.

_Oh, Edward is looking right at her. That bitch, she's only been here for like five minutes. No, wait, he's looking at me! Smile seductively, Jess. Make him want to take you in the broom-closet._

Disgust filled me as mental images took over her mind instead of me fucking her up against a wall. I cut her mind off and focused on the new girl's thoughts instead. She was staring at me wide-eyed and breathlessly, just like any human reacted when they saw a vampire for the first time.

_His face is amazing, oh god, look at that body. Don't drool visibly, Jill, it's not a charming trait. I wonder if he'd show up if I threw a party? How can he be so exquisitely perfect? I want him so badly._

I tuned out again and turned my head back to my family. Sighing, somewhat disappointed in the human race and with reinforced reason to stay out of young teenage girls minds, I shook my head slightly to the others at the table.

"She suspects nothing," I mumbled gruffly, somewhat annoyed lunch break was such an interruption to my preferred activities.

Later the same day, after dragging myself to the following class, I happily let myself drift away again. I stared off into the distance, peering absently out of the window, barely registrating that class was about to commence.

I didn't even notice the new girl as she walked into the room, her being didn't interest me slightly. Until she stepped in front of the fan, mercilessly catapulting her scent towards me.

As I drew the air carrying her smell through my nostrils the change from my absentminded relaxed demeanor to the keen and ready hunter was mind-blowing. It switched inside of me in an instant; I was prepared to hurl myself at her and rip her throat out of her and revel in her delicious blood.

Never had I experienced such a temptation, stirring every single vampiric instinct I was endowed with, it demanded every last ounce of self-control for me to not attack her then and there. She smelled so incredible, the indescribable wanting pulsating through me, every fiber of me yearning to devour her.

She spotted my sudden attention and I read her mind quickly. Her thoughts were a mix of fright, yet interest. She was flattered I seemed to notice her having been informed I heeded no-one from Jessica.

As she sat down next to me I realized I was in biology class and she was my designated lab partner. The hunter inside of me screamed in pleasure, considering in what way to kill this innocent ignorant girl. She smiled friendly at me, I nearly groaned out loud.

I forced myself to think of Carlisle, how disappointed he would be and that our life-style was above this, we didn't prey on humans, we were the good guys. Hoping to aid my faltering self-control I began trying to think of the girl as a person, read her mind to find out who she was and get a personal impression of her to help me want her to live.

Jill was sixteen, lived with her mother and father, had a kid sister, a cat named Socks, her date of birth… I bit my teeth together, venom flowing inside of my mouth. She was a random person, nothing special about her, in seventy years she'd be dead anyways. If I ended her life now, what would it matter, really?

My willpower wavered and the hunter used my mental ability to search her head for possible ways to lure her out of this classroom. It was so simple; she was already gazing seductively at me, clearly mistaking my bloodlust for regular lust.

Carlisle, remember Carlisle, I thought repetitively, fighting myself desperately. I searched desperately for something to hinder the intense call from her blood, the call so potent it was unlike anything I'd ever encountered before. But I found nothing. I read her mind and I knew she was willing to follow me wherever I suggested.

As she threw her hair in an attempt to flirt her death sentence was signed. I caved; I lost the fight against the vampiric needs.

Leaning in I whispered in a velvety voice into her ear, knowing exactly how she'd react before she uttered a word. "Want to get out of here?" I coaxed, her pulse rising instantly in excitement. She was so turned on she couldn't even reply audibly, nodding baffled in my direction.

I saw Mr. Banner, the biology teacher, occupied handing out specimen to the rest of the class and decided it was the perfect time to split.

"Follow me," I tempted her, throwing in a smile that dazzled her briefly. She stalked silently after me as I lead her out of the classroom unnoticed.

Exhilaration throbbed inside of me, agitated by what I knew was to come. I'd taste her sweet blood, soon.

Jill stayed close to me as I walked briskly out of the main building and took her into the concealing darkness from the woods. All the while she spoke to me, and her mind raced with anticipation. She expected to make out with me, possibly have mad sex in the forest if she was lucky. Silly girl. I replied secretively, enticing her and alluring her to keep her coming with me voluntarily.

I wouldn't risk being interrupted; I had no intentions of leaving a single drop of blood left. Imagining the depths of pleasure I was about to face had me nearly jumping her before we reached safe cover.

The second we were out of earshot I grabbed her arm and jerked her against a tree trunk. She yelped in pain, her face creasing in confusion, then changing into complete horror by the sight of what now stood before her.

I realized my vampiric side must now be on display, hunger the only feeling coursing inside of me. The found herself facing a monster, a beast about to take her to her demise.

"Please, don't hurt me," she cried as she slid limply down the trunk's length, her legs giving in under her in fear.

I chuckled, entertained by her trepidation. With one fluid movement I was standing close to her, raked my fingers through her hair and yanked her back upright. I tilted her head to the right baring her neck.

The sight of her exposed throat overtook me, I existed no more. There was only my bloodlust, the beast inside of me shouted in victory and to be liberated. I wouldn't stand in its way.

My teeth cut through her soft skin like a knife through butter, and the blood flowed into my mouth. It tasted even better then I'd imagined, it was without doubt my most religious experience to that date. Funny how killing a person would make me feel closer to God.

I drained her from all of her blood, and as her heart took its final throb I exhaled in pleasure and discarded her corpse by throwing it ruthlessly to the ground.

Reality struck me as I heard a pixie-like voice shriek behind me. "Edward! No! What have you done?!"

Alice rushed over to the lifeless body on the ground next to me and fell to her knees besides it. She hunched over it to check for any signs of life, even though I was certain she was already aware of the lack of heartbeat and smell of blood.

Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie's presences appeared behind me as well suddenly, I didn't even turn around to validate my knowledge.

"I was so busy focusing on Jasper…" Alice whispered self accusatorily from the ground.

Slowly, I felt the beast subside inside of me and self-control was restored. So did anguish and my sense of right and wrong. An overload of emotions rushed through me as I realized what I had just done; unable to find the capacity to cope and deal with them I did the only thing that made sense right then and there.

I turned and ran.

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